Pirate Ship in Chains

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Feature story - 18 June, 2007

The notorious Russian pirate fish cargo ship, the Mumrinskiy, has been chained to the docks in the Dutch port of Eemshaven by activists to stop it from engaging in illegal activities with pirate fisheries and facilitating the plunder of the dwindling Barents Sea fish stocks.

The Russian flagged vessel Mumrinskiy transhipping illegally to the reefer Sinbad, another vessel with a scandalous track record of involvement in the Barents illegal cod fishery. The Sindbad was operating without a flag and under the unregistered name `Marlin'.

The chaining of the Mumrinskiy's propeller to the dock by
Greenpeace activists occurred after the failure of authorities to
blacklist the ship and punish it for ongoing illegal
activities.

On June 12th the Mumrinskiy was documented by the Norwegian
Coastguard transhipping illegally to the reefer Sinbad, another
vessel with a scandalous track record of involvement in the Barents
illegal cod fishery.

The Sindbad was operating without a flag and under the
unregistered name `Marlin'. The Sindbad/Marlin was immediately
blacklisted but the Murminskiy escaped unpunished.

"The Mumrinskiy continues to break laws that have been put in
place to manage the world's last remaining relatively healthy cod
stock. It is obvious that it will continue to engage in illegal
activities if allowed to return to sea," said Farah Obaidullah,
Greenpeace Netherlands oceans campaigner.

"In a time of rampant over fishing governments can not continue
to turn a blind eye to documented pirates like the Mumrinskiy. This
ship must be scrapped, and her owners charged with stealing fish
from the Barents Sea."

Greenpeace will hand over the keys of the lock chaining the
Mumrinskiy to the dockside to the Dutch Minister of Fisheries later
today, and is calling on the Dutch government and the international
community to demand the immediate scrapping of the Mumrinskiy.

The Mumrinskiy has a long history of involvement in illegal
operations, including transhipment of Barents cod from illegal
boats, ignoring commands from Norwegian authorities and
misreporting its cargo to hide illegally caught fish.

The Mumrinskiy arrived from the Barents Sea on Saturday to
offload its cargo at Sealane Cold Storage BV, a Dutch freezing
company.

According to the United Nations 74 percent of the worlds
commercial fish stocks are either fully exploited or depleted.

Pirate fishing, also known as illegal, unreported and
unregulated fishing (IUU) is a US$9 billion rogue industry that has
a devastating effect on fish stocks and biodiversity in some of the
most ecologically important areas of the world's oceans such as the
Barents Sea.

"The reality is that there is simply not enough fish left in the
sea for all the boats out there," said Sari Tolvanen, Greenpeace
International oceans campaigner.

"Governments must work together to establish a global database
of vessels and promptly blacklist those caught operating illegally,
such as the Murminskiy, in order to address pirate fishing and
establish a worldwide network of marine reserves to restore fish
stocks".

We aren't waiting for governments to create a global 'blacklist'
of fishing vessels that are known to fish illegally.